Shine
by FaeryWriter
Summary: After running away from her home in the Land Lost In The Light, Lana Yukimura runs into a young boy from the Hidden Leaf, called Naruto Uzumaki. Though she has no skills as a ninja, can Naruto help Lana to SHINE? Or will she be captured by the Light and shunned into the SHADOWS? Naruto x OC ((I don't own Naruto or its respective characters, they belong to Kishimoto Masashi.))
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

The crunch of gravel and the pants of a young girl were the only sounds coming from inside the Land Lost In The Light. The young girl, Lana Yukimura, ran faster and faster, as if powered by the moon. The more she saw of it, the faster she ran, because the moment she could see the moon totally would be the moment she was free. Though it wouldn't that easy, it wouldn't be as easy as run for the wall and then jump over. The Light Soldiers would be aware of her escape before she could reach the wall if she kept the pace was running at. She had to get faster. She had to see the moon. _She had to be free_. Then she heard a scream. She turned back to look at the town she was running from. A woman with red hair was leaned out of window, hollering for the Light Soldiers. She looked down at Lana, who was back to running, faster, and cried:

"Devil, Fallen Angel! You can't escape, we'll kill you! You're too weak, Devil Child!" It wasn't the first time Lana had been called weak. She knew it was true. She was weak, and that was why she running, so she could get stronger.

"You're wrong, Lady, I'll prove it!" Lana called back, running even faster. "I'll show all of you. . . " she whispered, before skidding to a halt at the base of the wall. She took a quick look back. The Ten Light Soldiers, the strongest in ninja in the Hidden Light Country, clad in golden armour were marching towards Lana, and she couldn't help but giggle. The Mitsukage liked to make everything a performance and she hoped that that would give her enough time to escape.

In front of the ten soldiers was a young, but wise-looking man, striding forward, deftly. He was spinning a kunai between his fingers and smiling, laughing as he watched Lana run at the wall and try to run up it, only to fail and fall on her back.

"Silly, silly girl. You never learn. You don't have skill, you'll never escape, you'll die here-weak and lonely." he murmured, picking up the pace as she got further up the wall when she tried again.

"She won't make it over, will she, Lord Mitsukage. If she does, we cannot follow her." a Light Soldier to his right said, keeping his voice quiet and standing closer to the young man. The kunai he was spinning stopped, clattering to the ground and making everyone, even Lana, turn to look. The Mitsukage laughed, shaking his head and shouting:

"Give up, Lana Yukimura. You'll die this night, whether you get over the wall or not. With no clothes, food or money- what will you do? No skills as a ninja whatsoever, you'll die this night for sure. So why not come and die at home?" Lana laughed, emotionlessly like a robot. She then spat on the ground and rubbed her hands together. She'd get up the wall, she decided, even if it killed her. She stood back, glaring at the wall and ignoring the continuing march.

_To her left were six stones, three of them a foot away and the others were spread out in a mixture of being four to six feet from her. On her right was some dried grass and three black beetles with glistening shells. These were further though, four seconds run, she estimated. _

Nothing for use as an advantage, not at that moment. Something else, she needed something different and she had no time. Lana stood still, the calculations that helped her stopped for a second.

_From the sound of them, Lana could tell she had fifteen seconds before the Mitsukage gave her one last chance to surrender, forty (depending on her decision) until a kunai was throw at her and two minutes until they took her out. She had no skill in the ninja arts and she couldn't win against ten Light Soldiers, her only chance was to get up the twelve foot wall within an estimated twelve point seven seconds. Lana had next to no control over her chakra, so attempting to walk up the wall was a waste of precious time. The wall was smooth, no scaling. And she was five feet tall, less than half the size of the wall, nearly impossible to jump. _

"Last chance to gi-" Lana snapped. She turned on her heel, picking up one of the three stones a foot away and threw it hard at the Mitsukage's face. And it hit, leaving a bloody trail down his face. He winced, hissing and rubbing his face.

"Bitch." And Lana had cut down her time; twenty three seconds until they took her out. Five of the ten soldiers ran at her, the others began Jutsu's. There was only one thing Lana could do. So fuck it, she thought; picturing the chakra build up at her feet. She turned back and ran at the wall, running up it and standing triumphantly on top.

"Shit, Mitsukage! What do we do, she'll jump!" a crowds-person cried. But the Mitsukage just stared at her. She watched him over her shoulder, her hands shaking with excitement. She had not only had she controlled her chakra but she was practically over the wall. She was practically free.

"Well done, kid, maybe you're stronger than we thought." Lana grinned, "Or maybe your just some lucky piece of dead meat. See how long you live out there alone, and then come back and die in front of us. It will be a show I'll come and see!" he laughed, watching Lana's face fall. He was right. How was she going to survive? She shrugged, and jumped down before running straight towards the moon.

**A/N: Okay, so basically, for those who give a fuck, her name is Lana which means "shining light" and I just thought it was cute so I named the story after her and the whole story came from her name. As I said, I just thought it was cute and that some of you'd like to know. Also, this story will be updated on Monday's unless I can't update, just FYI.**


	2. Chapter One

**_Chapter One_**

Naruto Uzumaki sat in a tree just outside of the Hidden Leaf Village. He remembered the event as if it had happened only moments ago, when in reality, it had been three days. Naruto kicked the branch he sat on, forcefully, growling to himself. He pictured Sakura's tears as they streamed down her face. He wondered why Sasuke was such a dick, if it was he Sakura was in love with, she wouldn't be so sad and lonely.

"One day, Sakura-chan, you'll love me back, believe it. I swear." he mumbled, despite the fact that he knew Sakura hated his guts and loved Sasuke more than life.

Crunch. Naruto's head snapped up as he heard a branch snap beneath him. His eyes lit up in excitement, was it Sakura there to confess her affection for him? Naruto couldn't wait, he leapt down and landed on a girl that was defiantly not Sakura. He jumped up, staring at the groaning mass of limbs on the ground. She stood up, dusting herself off and then looking up at him. She had wild, blue hair that reached her mid back. It was messy and untamed. Her eyes were wide, purple gems that shone bright with black stones in the centre. They were dark and held enough mystery and pain for Naruto to want to ask what was wrong, and scared enough that Naruto felt compelled to comfort her. She had sharp nails that held black dirt underneath and her pale skin was blotched with mud. She looked tired, dark bags lining the bottom of her eyes and making her skin look more deathly pale than it should. She had plump pink lips and light brown freckles dotted randomly across her cheeks that reminded Naruto of stars in a cloudy sky; hidden but there. Naruto stood and stared at her, taking in her ragamuffin appearance and not quite knowing what to make of it. His blue eyes travelled up her body to where her ninja headwear would be, but found nothing underneath the dark blue of the mane of hair.

"Um. . . Hello?" she asked, moving her hands from her sides to wrapping around herself, her dotted cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Who. . . Where am I?" The girl took a step towards him, letting him smell the weird, unwashed, sweaty smell she held, but also the slight smell of lavender that came from her person, too.

"I-I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! You're nearly in Konohagakure now." he said, leaning back against the tree. He wanted to feel disappointed that it wasn't Sakura coming to confess, but something about the girl made him want to be near her. She was interesting, the most interesting person in Konoha at that moment. "Who're you?" Naruto couldn't help himself, he moved closer to her. She was the first person to not look at him in disgust or angrily, the first person to look past the beast he had inside him. Maybe because she didn't know it was there.

"I'm Lana Yukimura of the Hidden Light Country. Nice to meet you, Uzumaki-kun." Lana bowed to her waist for a couple of seconds before looking back up at him, while lacing her fingers through her hair and tugging at it hard. "Do you think that, maybe, there's somewhere for me to stay here?" she asked, looking at Naruto with cute, curious eyes. "You see, I'm not quite welcome back in the Light Country." she told him, looking away and blushing a little. Naruto laughed, knowing the feeling of not being welcome all too well. He smiled broadly at her, feeling like he trusted her after only knowing her a few minutes. If he wanted to keep her as a friend, he'd have to help her out.

"I don't know about anywhere else but you can stay with me, Lana-chan."

"Really?" she asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice but her bright indigo eyes gave her away. "You're sure, won't your parents mind?" Naruto sent her a funny look but shook his head, no, and took her wrist in his hand.

"Sweet, let's go!" Naruto dragged Lana along behind him, his hand keeping a deadlock grip on her cold, dirty wrist as he did so. When they reached the huge green gates that were the doors to Konoha, he stopped running and hid against the wall, pulling Lana with him and out of sight.

"Okay, Lana-chan, we're going to have to sneak you in, 'cause the people who guard the gates won't let you in just like that. They'll call in the Hokage, believe it!" he said, pushing her out from his chest, his hands on her shoulders as he looked dead into her eyes when he spoke. Lana's expression read determination as she pursed her lips and nodded, narrowing her eyes and looking straight at Naruto. However in her head, Lana was worried. She knew in the back of her mind that whatever Naruto's plan was, it wasn't going to keep her hidden forever, plus the Forehead Protecter he wore showed that he was a ninja. And she wasn't. She could barely perform any Jutsu's and those she could were always done with many flaws and mistakes. Lana looked up at Naruto, watching his thinking face for a moment before turning and taking in the environment. If Lana was good at one thing, it was noticing everything, nothing got past her.

_On the ground next to the gates on the other side to her and Naruto were eight stones varying from three centimetres cubed and twenty centimetres cubed, none of them smooth and all with at least one jagged edge sharp enough to pierce through a skull with the right amount of force exerted. Within six seconds running distance were twelve trees over ten feet high with a range of three feet in how high the first branch was, each were thick enough to hold both her and Naruto's weight if they bounced off them without the trees moving too much and alerting the guards. The ground was hard and covered in grit that would crunch loudly if stepped on for one point eight three seconds with her whole body weight. At her feet was one stick and two smooth rocks along with thirteen leaves, four orange and crispy, nine fresh and green. The twig was flexible and thin but not long enough to be very useful. The wall was about fourteen feet high, much to high to even think about scaling safely, also it was very uneven, not good for climbing._

Lana sighed and looked back at Naruto as he let out a gasp, looking as if he had had a 'lightbulb moment'. He caught her arm and smiled, pushing her away from him with a little too much force and sending her to the ground with a quiet thud. Lana looked up at the sky, squinting one eye and rubbing her head on the opposing side.

"Ow. . ." she muttered, slowly sitting up to see a happy-with-himself Naruto. He glanced down at her before hauling her up and leaning close to whisper to her. Lana felt her face heat up a little as his face got close to her's and his warm breath wash over her cold face.

"We can pretend that you're hurt and that I'm taking you to the Infirmary, that I just found you while I was out, believe it!" He nearly shouted in excitement at the end and Lana had to hold her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. "Take that, Sasuke, I came up with a plan all by myself, even you should be impressed." He grinned in an adorable and goofy manner at Lana and then leaned down, readying himself to pick her up.

"Wait, I can make this realistic." Lana told him, glancing from her left to her right and then sprinting across the gate and grabbing five of the stones and running back. She panted as she fell to the floor and sat cross legged amongst the dirt. Naruto sat opposite her, intrigue dusting his features as she lay the stones out in front of her and grabbing the stick and some leaves from behind him. "Now, you need to be silent and not say anything while I do this, yeah." she said, calmly, digging her hands into her wild hair and tugging at it hard, the clump being forced away from her scalp as she spoke. Then, when she let go and dusted her hands on her top, she took a rock from in front of her and stabbed the sharp edge into her leg and dragged it up her calf leaving a long, bloody scratch before pulling it out and placing it aside. Naruto's eyes were wide but he held himself back, pressing his lips together tight and frowning at her leg. She then took the twig and laced through her hair, embedding a few leaves in there for good measure. She went back to her wounds and scratched up her left arm, under her chest-across her flat stomach- and down her back. She then stabbed the jagged rock into her right cheek and pulled down, making her eyes tear up and blood trickle down and mix with the tears and mud on her top. "How do I look?" she whispered, pinching her right wrist with her sharp, claw like nails and forcing more tears down her cheeks. Naruto looked sad and disheartened but shook it off, nodding and murmuring that she looked the part before lifting her off the ground and running to the gates, kicking the stones away as he hurried. His face was hard as he hurried in through the gates. The guards, of course, stopped him and he took a subtle but deep breath as they asked who the girl was, thinking to himself that it had to work and he had to lie well. . .


	3. Chapter Two

**_Chapter Two_**

_The guards, of course, stopped him and he took a subtle but deep breath as they asked who the girl was, thinking to himself that it had to work and he had to lie well. . ._

"I don't know who she is, believe it! I was just training in the forest and I saw her on the ground, I'm going to take her to the infirmary, believe it!" He narrowed his eyes, sweating a little and trying to keep a good grip on her. The guards exchanged looks, looking disbelieving, until Naruto jabbed his pinky finger into the sensitive skin next to Lana's cheek wound, making her groan in pain. The guards sighed and turned to look at Naruto.

"Okay, take her to the Infirmary, then go straight to tell Lord Hokage, you get it Uzumaki?" the left guard told him, glaring at Naruto, still not fully trusting him. Naruto felt the urge to pull a face and call the man a name, but held his tongue. Digging his teeth into his tongue and pressing his lips together tight, Naruto hurried away. He made a beeline straight to his house, but as he did, Lana opened her eyes and noticed that those who weren't ignoring Naruto completely, were sending him dirty looks and whispering about him. She sat up a bit to look at him but he didn't seem at all bothered, if he was paying them any attention at all. When they reached his house, Naruto dropped Lana straight onto the floor at his feet and smiled down at her, cheekily, as if daring her to say something. She didn't though, Naruto had been kind enough to sneak her into the village, lie to guards and risk being in trouble with his parents. She might not have been well behaved all of the time, but she had manners.

Lana rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing herself off before looking around the apartment. To say it was a mess was an understatement. The place looked like it had been hit by several ninja attacks and a tornado. Clothes and empty boxes of ramen covered the place. It smelt funny, like rotten fish, and a carton of milk sat on a table right next to a window, letting the sun shine directly onto it. As if adding fuel to fire in her mind, Naruto slid off his shoes (letting the sour smell of his socks and feet fill the apartment) and chucked them to his side, against a wall, where one slid down and the other bounced back and landed across the mat.

"U-Uzumaki-kun, how do your parents just let the place stay like this, it's disgusting!" Lana called after his figure that was walking into the main room. He picked up the milk and sniffed it, scrunching up his face and putting it back on the table.

"They don't." he said blandly, "They're dead." Lana's face paled slightly, before heating up in embarrassment and shame. She watched Naruto disappear behind a wall, before sheepishly following him. "And just call me Naruto!" he yelled back to her, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, okay." Lana whispered, turning the corner and meeting Naruto's butt, that was sticking up as he grabbed a carton of ramen from a low down compartment. She would have been embarrassed, had it not been for the smell of the kitchen making her stumble back. "God, I need to clean this place up." she muttered, walking over to the window and opening it then drawing the curtains. Naruto walked out from the kitchen, looking at her with his mouth full of ramen. Before he said anything, Lana held up her hand. "If you say anything with your mouth full I might be sick. How can you live like this?" Lana leaned across the table, picking up all the ramen and rubbish in her arms and putting them in the only clean spot in the house- the bin. Naruto shrugged, though he knew she couldn't see, following her with his eyes as she began to clean up the whole house. Picking up his dirty clothes and piling them up next to sink, filling up empty ramen boxes with other junk when the bin was brimming, making him take them out side and leave them out for the 'bin men', whoever they were. After the house was as clean as she could get it (she spent nearly five hours making the place look half decent), she washed his clothes in the sink and hung them up for him. She opened every window in the house and the front door for a while. By that point she had washed her wounds too, bandaging them with toilet paper and some of the stuff in a First-Aid Kit that Naruto had under his sofa. She had thrown the twig and leaves out of a window.

When she was done, she flopped down on the floor at Naruto's feet. He hadn't done much but sit and watch her, fascinated, and retorting back to remarks she made about his filth and how he must have come across to others. The only time he didn't say anything back was when she said that it was reason everyone looked so disgusted by him in the street. Then he had gone oddly quiet. Lana looked up at Naruto, who looked back down at her.

"Are you sure I can stay here, Naruto?" she whispered, looking dead into his blue orbs. He rolled his eyes before grinning.

"Yeah, if you promise to stop nagging me. You're like an old lady, nag, nag, nag." he teased, making Lana giggle and slap his knee, but freezing when she heard steps on concrete outside the door. _Eight seconds before the person started knocking_. She leapt up, scrambling from the ground into the bathroom before she motioned to a very confused Naruto to be quiet. Just then, a loud knock sounded on the door and it swung open. Lana leaned back pulling the door nearly shut and peeking through the gap.

"Iruka-sensei!" cheered Naruto, as a tall man with his black hair tyed back into a spiky ponytail appeared. _The man had his back to Lana but she could see mud on the bottom of his shoes, as well as down the back of his trousers. He wore what looked like ninja standard uniform, no that she'd seen a lot of it. It hadn't rained for a while so the mud must have been from a few days prior. Also he had a pure white bandage around his forearm that was uncovered by his rolled up black sleeves._

"Naruto, would you like to come out with me for some ramen. I heard from Kakashi-san that training's not going that well." Iruka rubbed the back of his head, under his ponytail, allowing Lana to see his clean hands.

"Why did you put me in a group with Sasuke? I hate him, he thinks he's all that just because of his blood ties!" Naruto complained, crossing his arms and pouting, squinting his eyes at Iruka, who laughed shakily.

"Statistically, you guys are the best in a team, especially with Haruno-chan." Iruka told him before changing the subject. "Hey, did you clean this place up? It looks good." He looked around the apartment in surprise, admiring Lana's hard work and making her smile. Naruto grunted, looking uncomfortable. "So, how about that ramen, Naruto." Naruto glanced at the bathroom door, making direct and obvious eye contact with Lana. Iruka turned to catch his glance, making Lana stumble back against the wall, hiding from sight behind the door and praying he didn't see. "If you need the bathroom, Naruto, just go." Lana silently let out a sigh of relief. But then held her breath again as heavy boot steps came towards her. She glanced around the room, but there was nowhere to hide. _**TEN SECONDS:** walls too smooth to scale; **EIGHT SECONDS:** ceiling too high to jump and hang from; __**FOUR SECONDS:** no windows to jump out of. _

Suddenly, the door swung open; so fast Lana didn't have time to move, and the edge of it hit her right in the face.

"Ow!" she cried, bringing her hands to her face as Iruka jumped back.

"Lana-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto called, rushing over to pull her from the bathroom. Iruka stared at the two, Lana rubbing tears from her cheeks and blood from her nose and Naruto with his right arm around her shoulder and his left hanging limply at his side. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have given you away!" Iruka couldn't wrap his head around it.

Naruto had a little girl hidden in his bathroom. Naruto had a girl in his bathroom. There was a girl in his bathroom. After a few seconds of silence, Lana looked up to see the startled Iruka staring at her.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, are you hurt?" he asked, surprisingly calm. He looked at the toilet paper bandages and the dirt and grime on her clothes and face, except around a cut on her cheek that had blotched red skin surrounding it. Lana shook her head, dumbly, her cheeks tinting slightly red. It had only been about six hours and she'd been found out. Naruto let his arm drop from her shoulders. "And who exactly are you?" The two children shared a look before Lana opened her mouth.

"I'm Lana Yukimura. I'm from the Hidden Light Country, but I don't think I'm quite welcome back there. I met Naruto in the forest earlier and he said I could stay with him-" Iruka interrupted.

"How did you get in?" he asked, making Naruto blush for a second before smirking and grinning broadly. He pointed to her bandages and said:

"We pretended she was injured and that I was taking her to the infirmary, but I didn't and we came here. Then, she cleaned them up and you came." He looked especially proud when he continued, "And I thought up the plan, Iruka-sensei. It was my plan and it worked, so I'm not totally useless!" The look of excitement distracted Iruka for a moment, a sense of pride welling up in his chest. Lana saw it on his face, making her smile a little too, before she wondered what kind of punishment the two of them would be issued.

"Well, good job, Naruto. But that excuse the two of you." Iruka said, sternly, frowning at the two of them, "First, we'll take Lana-chan to the school baths, no one will be there, so just take a quick bath and come out. Naruto lend her some clothes. Then we'll go and get some ramen, you look starved, Lana-chan." he finished, crossing his arms and looking at Naruto expectantly. The children stared blankly at him before they both exploded.

"What do you mean? Aren't we in trouble, we broke the rules! What do mean- go for ramen- my God!" cried Lana at the same as Naruto yelled,

"But, but! Aren't you going to take us to see the Hokage, aren't we in shit loads of trouble?" Iruka smiled, warmly at the two of them. Letting out a shirt laugh, he pushed Naruto towards his bedroom and told him to the clothes and be quiet.

"Yeah, I'll take you to Lord Hokage once your both decent and well fed. I want you to be safe, at least until the guards get to you. . ."


	4. Chapter Three

**_Chapter Three_**

It was Heaven. Not only to be enveloped by the warm water of the bath, but to be clean- it was Heaven. Only, Lana knew it was a temporary haven, soon to disappear and she would be back in the Leaf Village with her new friend and his 'sensei'. So, instead of sitting back and relaxing for a couple minutes, Lana washed herself thoroughly and quickly, taking heed of Iruka's warning to be quick. While she did enjoy the bath as much as she could, Lana also found herself begging to leave again, mostly because wherever she looked, there was mirror. Reflecting light into her eyes and showing her how she looked. It had always been something she hated, the way she looked, not because she thought she was ugly but because she looked strikingly like the depictions of the devil that covered the Light Palace's walls.

The Light Palace was the Mitsukage's residence in the Hidden Light, and all down the corridors leading to the main hall were huge paintings and tapestries of the devil. It was a large pig or bull that was coloured the same as the night sky with white dots above the snout that could only be described as freckles. Its 'hair' was long and messy and it had sharp claws that usually were pictured tearing apart civilians or shoving mountains of bloody corpses into its gaping mouth of fang-like teeth. The detail most alike to Lana, however, were its eyes. They were just like her's- purple and dark, wide with dark lashes. The Mitsukage once told Lana that devil took another form when enchanting its victims, and he showed her a picture, one that Lana could never drive from her mind.

It was of a woman. She was tall and beautiful, with hair of a dark blue like Lana's and eyes that were narrow, a strikingly bright violet in colour. Her skin was paper pale and her cheeks and arms were covered by brown freckles. She was thin, with hair cascading down her back. In fact, to Lana, she looked perfect- the perfect human, carved by a god- only, she was killing. In the picture, she was covered in blood, it was pouring from her mouth and from the limp body in her hands. Lana remembered what the Mitsukage had said, that she was the reason that no one left the Hidden Light. That she was literally the devil. And that Lana was her child. The devil, the personification of evil, was her mother. Of course, it was a hyperbole, an exaggeration. Lana's mother wasn't the devil, she was a human woman. But all Lana knew was that she had done something so evil that even her daughter was seen as some sort of hell-sent demon. And that was what she saw in the mirror. A demon, a devil child, because that was what she was always told she was.

"Hey, are you coming, I'm starving, believe it! Hurry up!" Naruto brought Lana back to the real world. She found herself staring at the mirror, rather vacantly. She shook her head of the nasty thoughts and quickly finished washing herself before grabbing a towel and running into the changing rooms.

When she reached the rooms however, she let out a loud and high scream.

"Naruto, what are you doing!?" she cried, throwing her towel over his face and hiding behind the door that led back into the baths. "Get out!" She ran her wet fingers through her hair, latching on at the top and tugging hard at her head. Naruto, still with the towel on his head, yelled out a single apology and stumbled towards a wall that he probably thought was the door. Lana rolled her eyes in annoyance and grabbed another towel, wrapped it around herself and walked up behind the blonde moron, pulling the towel away and snapping for him to leave. With a reluctant look in his eyes and blush on his face, he did so; leaving Lana to get changed in peace. As she emerged from the bathroom, she saw Iruka and Naruto leaned against the wall opposite her, it looked serious, though the moment they saw her approach the conversation ended abruptly.

"All ready, Lana-chan?" asked Iruka, pushing off the wall and standing in front of her with a smile. She nodded, pulling up Naruto's trousers again as they fell. The clothes were about a size too big so Lana had tied the shirt up in a knot behind her but she could do nothing about the trousers other than roll them up so they didn't drag across the ground. Naruto pushed off the wall also, a new wave a excitement passing through the air as he got closer to Lana. His face was pulled up in a wide grin.

"So we can get ramen, now?" he cried, bouncing on his heels. Iruka let out a airy laugh and nodded.

"Yeah, let's go. Do you like ramen, Lana-chan?"

As they began to walk to the shop that Naruto called his 'most beloved place in Konohagakure', Lana took in the sights properly. The place was full of narrow streets that were mixed between crowded and quiet, full of happy, smiling adults and running, bouncy children running through the lanes. Lana wondered what would be happening in her home. Probably the daily house checks, she thought, to make sure no outsiders are hidden there. She subconsciously rolled her eyes. She never understood what damage an 'outsider' could do to the Light Country, let alone the Mitsukage.

"So, Lana-chan, are you a ninja?" asked Naruto, jumping in front of her and strolling backwards. Iruka looked down at her, interested as well. Lana blinked, before sighing and shaking her head.

"I want to be a ninja, but I guess I don't have the talent for it. I can't control my chakra and all the Jutsu's that I do are messed up, somehow." she muttered, coldly with a little sadness. "Even my younger sister can do better Jutsu's than I can and she can't even start the academy yet." Iruka smiled warmly. He remembered Naruto and his uselessness.

"I'm sure that if you try hard enough, Lana, you can be one of the best ninja in the world." Iruka tried to cheer her up.

"Nah, I doubt it. I'm so useless." she muttered, tears filling up her eyes. Naruto frowned, not knowing what to do, he hesitantly held out his hand and rested it, awkwardly, on her shoulder. He patted softly, making Lana smile and wipe her eyes. Naruto sent her a broad smile, seemingly the only smile he could achieve.

"Bet you wouldn't believe it, but Naruto was the worst ninja in his class. He was hopeless- but now he's one of the most elite in his age-group. Well, nearly. . ." Iruka trailed off, not being able to say that Naruto had really improved. Ignoring Naruto's glare, he continued, "All because he trained and worked harder than most others." he finished, noting the happy look that Naruto wore after his appraisal. Naruto sent another smile to Lana, nodding his head happily in agreement. Lana smiled.

"Thank you. I'll try my hardest from now on, I promise!" The two men cheered and earned gleeful laughter in return. Just as they reached the ramen stall, Naruto's stomach grumbled and the three of them tucked in to a delicious meal of salted ramen and sauce, blissfully unaware of the task that lay ahead of them- visiting the Hokage.

**A/N Oh God, I'm so sorry! I haven't had time to write recently because I had tests and my brother was sick. . . I know that it's no excuse, so next chapter I'll try to make it super long or I'll upload two for you guys. At least I got something up on time, unlike with my Fairy Tail fic that I missed the deadline for. Oh well, I try harder for you guys- I promise! Lots of love, Lis.**


	5. Chapter Four

**_Chapter Four_**

Naruto had his arm slung over Lana's shoulder as she walked as slowly as possible after Iruka. Iruka himself had told her not to worry about the Hokage and said that she would probably be allowed to stay in Konoha after a few security checks. But staying in Konohagakure wasn't what Lana was worried about- she couldn't help but worry that the Hokage was going to be like the Mitsukage. All horrid and smartass-y, the thought of that made her want to retch.

"Don't be so stressed about Lana-chan, I'm always pulling pranks and drawing in the Hokage's faces and stuff and the Hokage never does anythin'." Naruto laughed, giving her a closed-eyed smile. Lana sent him a stiff, small smile back and slid out his tight grip, walking faster to catch up with Iruka. As she walked ahead, she laced her slim fingers through her hair, tightly, and tugged hard, pulling her head along with her. She continued to pull her hair through the whole walk to the large building that held the Hokage.

"Now, don't speak unless spoken to, you might get yourselves in even more trouble- Naruto." He emphasised Naruto's name, looking slightly worried for the bumbling blonde, who strode up to them with a large grin and his hands shoved into the pockets of his orange and black jumpsuit. As he got closer, he took Lana's hand from her hair and told her to calm down. She glared at him, playfully, to distract from her tugging her hand away sharply. Iruka then shoved the two inside the building before him, so they couldn't run away and bail out.

When inside, Lana followed the boys through the endless hallways, memorising every picture on every wall and keeping track of every corner they turned. _Left, right, ninja with black hair, right, up three flights of stairs, ninja with white hair, left, left. . . _And so on, until they reached a large set of white double doors and Iruka placed his hand on her head.

"Remember, speak when spoken to." he whispered, knocking hard on the door and grabbing

Naruto by the collar as he tried to walk over to a large painting on the wall opposite.

"Come in." Lana couldn't help but be surprised by the deepish voice of an elderly man that rang out from behind the doors. Lana had imagined a Mitsukage-like man, young and bold with sharp features. But the doors swung open revealing an older male with set-in wrinkles and a metal helmet that looked almost like a wig, hiding the fact he must have been balding. He sat with his hands steepled in front of his face. He sighed when he saw Naruto and Iruka, but looked surprised when his eyes set on Lana. She couldn't help but stifle a grin at the way his black eyes widened. Next to him, on the other side of the large wooden desk, stood someone that reminded Lana more of her Mitsukage. He was tall, slim and young with a black ninja uniform with his headband falling over one eye and spiky white hair sticking up all over the place. He had a dark, black, mask over his paper white face. He also didn't look surprised to see Naruto, in fact, if he were surprised at all, even counting in Lana, he didn't look it.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried, in such a way, no one could tell if he were happy or embarrassed and surprised that he was there. Kakashi sent Iruka a knowing look before turning his gaze on Lana. She felt like she was naked, the way she couldn't read him at all and the fact she couldn't see his whole face made her feel like he could see all of her and she couldn't see any of him.

"And who is this?" asked the elderly man, leaning forward and staring dead at her. She kept her mouth shut, not sure whether he was talking to her or to Iruka. After a second of silence, she decided he was talking to her. She opened her mouth only to nearly choke on her words, the two men staring at her with their intense gazes was unlike any pressure she had felt before. She knew all about hateful, resentful and fearful gazes, looks of pleasure, of having the upper hand, of being in control, but the way the men were looking at her, she couldn't read a thing. And it shocked her. She was used to being the observant one who could see through anyone and it saved her ass uncountable times.

So she stood with a open mouth and said nothing. No one came to her aid. Naruto didn't understand what was wrong with her and Iruka was curious as to what was stopping her, too. Lana shut her mouth, blinking, swallowing and then smiling at them.

"I'm Lana Yukimura." she said, simply, answering the question and nothing else out of complete and utter lack of speech. She lost her mind, forgetting everything about herself under their gaze. She was sure it was some sort of genjutsu she was under.

"And what are you doing here, Lana Yukimura?" the Hokage asked, calmly, sensing her tension. For lack of anything better to say, she ran her fingers through her hair and tugged, hard, jerking her head with it and bringing colourless tears to her brilliant purple eyes. Her mind whizzed with possible answers, none of which were true. "And I would rather like the truth, please." As if he read her mind, the Hokage shot her down. That was when Lana couldn't help herself, the side of her that only really appeared in stressing, pressuring situations or with the Mitsukage bubbled up.

"How about you tell me who you are first." Lana said back, resisting the urge to bite her lip and take it back or cover her mouth and apologise. She'd said it now, so she needed to seem in control. The Hokage, Kakashi and Iruka all seemed a little taken aback by her strong words, but

Naruto let out a loud snort and laughed, slapping Lana's back as he doubled over.

"Good one, Lana-chan." Naruto stood back up straight when Lana stepped on his foot, trying to hold back his ripples of laughter. The Hokage watched with cold eyes, watching every move she made.

"Yukimura!" hissed Iruka, his face turning slightly red at how rude she seemed.

"No, Iruka, it's fine. She should speak her mind. I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage*." The elderly man gave her small smile, crinkling the wrinkles in his skin. Lana nodded, appreciatively, like she hadn't just been being rude and had meant to say that.

"I actually didn't mean to come to Konoha. I was outside the gates when I met Naruto. I needed somewhere to stay, so he let me stay at his. I was injured, so he offered to help me out, is all." she half-lied, trying to look as innocent as she could. Naruto nodded, quickly, in agreement. Sarutobi watched the two with interest as Kakashi spoke up.

"You needed somewhere to stay?" Lana flinched, not sure whether honesty really was the best policy at this point. She would probably get kicked out of Konoha, for betraying her country, before she even properly got there. Lana sent Kakashi a sweet, stalling smile and took the fast glance around the room. _Behind the Hokage was a wall of windows with window taking up a fifth of the wall either side as well. There were a couple of trees she could probably leap to if she tried._

"Lana?" whispered Naruto, sliding a little closer to talk to her discreetly (though he was 'whispering' so loud that everyone could hear him). "What's up?" As if a switch had been flicked on and Lana was bought to life again with a jolt.

"I ran away." she said, suddenly, making Naruto jump back and cry out. He covered his mouth, as his face paled, with a tan hand.

"Why?" Kakashi leaned against the table on which the Hokage sat, with a grin under his mask.

"Because I would have died." she spoke simply and smoothly, all traces of the panic from before dissipated. Iruka and Naruto both jerked to look dead at her, Naruto especially looked horrified.

"Is there a reason for this, something you've done to lead to yourself to an execution?" asked the Hokage, resting his head upon his dark, steepled hands. Lana held back a smirk, knowing she could have said a lot of the things she did to the Mitsukage which may have had an impact on her death, but she knew there was a real reason she was due to die.

"I'm not a good ninja. I'm sh- terrible at Jutsu's and my only redeeming quality is I'm quite strong and. . . smart?" she laughed a little, "And in the Light Country, everyone has to be a decent ninja, or else- you guessed it- they'll die." Everyone stared for a second before the Hokage smiled and stood up, stalking over to Lana.

"Well, this is interesting, isn't it. . ."


End file.
